An e-mail snafu has led to the alleged leak of Microsoft's decision to shutter its MSN Groups service, according to LiveSide.net. It's not a surprise, as MSN Groups was one of the last vestiges of Microsoft's Web services strategy pre-Windows Live.
According to the e-mails posted to LiveSide, MSN Groups will be closing on February 21, 2009. It'll be replaced with a new service, Windows Live Groups, which debuts on November 17.
Here's the catch: The LiveSide post indicates MSN Groups will not be migrating to Windows Live Groups; the new Windows Live service will be different enough so that the transition wouldn't be a clean one.
With less than two weeks until Microsoft's Professional Developer Conference kicks off in Los Angeles, news is starting to trickle out.
Come October 27, that trickle will turn into a flood. Here at CNET News we want to make sure you keep your head above water. To that end, our PDC page is already up and running.
You can bookmark that page and be sure that whenever you check it you will be up on the latest PDC-related info as well as catch any stories on the products expected to make headlines at the show.
Microsoft is objecting to a plan that would force the company to use its Windows Update service to notify potential members in the "Windows Vista Capable" class-action lawsuit, according to documents filed in federal court Wednesday.In a Wednesday filing, Microsoft called the idea, which was put forward two weeks ago by plaintiffs' lawyers, an "attempt to hijack Windows Update" that would bombard millions with a message that "amounts to spam.
"The Vista Capable lawsuit accuses Microsoft of duping buyers in 2006 and 2007 by letting PC makers slap a "Vista Capable" sticker on PCs when it allegedly knew that many of those systems could run only Vista Home Basic, the entry-level version.
Security software suites don't protect users from real-world exploits, a bug tracking company charged today after launching
300 test attacks against a dozen programs, including popular software from McAfee, Symantec, and Trend Micro.
"The Internet security suites are marketing themselves as the one solution users need to be safe online," said Thomas Kristensen, chief technology officer at Secunia, which ran the tests. "In our opinion, that's just not true."
Microsoft plans to add voice over Internet protocol, collaboration and Web presence enhancements to the next version of its unified communications software, which is due out in early February 2009. Microsoft on Tuesday revealed details of Office Communications Server 2007 Release 2, which customers should be able to download on Feb. 3, 2009, at the VoiceCon show in Amsterdam. The software is currently in private beta testing. Released just last year, OCS 2007 is the first software from Microsoft for making VoIP a part of integrated communications services alongside corporate instant messaging, e-mail, and videoconferencing, all running on one IP network.
Microsoft has launched its Magellan Learning Suite, a package of software solutions and services designed to support a portable computer called Magellan, a low-cost system based on Intel's Classmate PC targeted toward elementary and middle school students. The suite will initially support Portuguese initiatives aimed at infusing technology into the Portuguese education system and delivering technology and training to disadvantaged youth in the country.
The Magellan Initiative, or "Iniciativa Magalh'es," is similar in some ways to the One Laptop Per Child initiative in that its aim is to deliver low-cost, mobile systems to school children around the world. Intel, the hardware designer behind Magellan, had at one point been a partner in OLPC but is no longer involved.
So much for codenames. Mike Nash, corporate vice president for Windows product management, today announced that Microsoft's upcoming operating system is to be officially named after its codename, Windows 7.
The news was posted on Microsoft's official Windows 7 blog and comes just two weeks prior to the Professional Developer Conference, Microsoft's big developer show set to take place in Los Angeles beginning October 27.
Attendees of the show will get what's called a "pre-beta 'developer only release'" at the show. The day one opening keynote will feature Ray Ozzie, chief software architect at Microsoft, and Steve Sinofsky, the executive in charge of the Windows team.
If you're one of the few Xbox 360 owners without at least 256 MB memory card or hard drive, don't worry: Microsoft has you covered. The company Friday announced that it will soon unveil a storage solution to any Xbox 360 owners unable to free up 128 MB of storage space, which will be required once the New Xbox Experience launches next month.
"While we expect the majority of consumers to download the New Xbox Experience without a problem, a small percentage of Xbox 360 owners do not have enough memory to accommodate the update," Microsoft said in a statement.
Microsoft has scheduled a conference call on Monday to announce, among other things, that it has completed version 2.0 of Silverlight, its rival to Adobe's Flash.
The software maker has scheduled a conference call for 9 a.m. PDT with developer division executive Scott Guthrie.
A Microsoft representative declined to comment on the impending announcement, but a source told CNET News that the completion of Silverlight 2.0 is among the topics of discussion. Microsoft released Beta 2 of the software in June, while a "release candidate" version was offered up last month.
Microsoft's Chairman Bill Gates has been supplanted as the world's richest man, according to a revised Forbes Magazine ranking, using October 1 data. Gates now takes second place to Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett, whose wealth Forbes estimated at $58 billion.
Gates had held the top richest spot for 15 years, but his wealth slipped from $57 billion in August to $55.5 billion in October, the magazine reported. Taking third place, at $25.4 billion, was Gates' ostensible nemesis, Larry Ellison, cofounder and CEO of Oracle